Law enforcement officers and agents with the Department of Homeland Security will soon be required to wear body cameras, as required by a newly issued executive order, the agency announced earlier this week.
DHS Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas announced the department-wide policy on body-worn cameras (BWCs) May 23. The new policy is in accordance with the Executive Order on Advancing Effective, Accountable Policing and Criminal Justice Practices to Enhance Public Trust and Public Safety, issued by President Joseph Biden on May 25, according to the DHS news release.
"Requiring the use of body-worn cameras by our law enforcement officers and agents is another important step DHS is making to bring our law enforcement workforce to the forefront of innovation," Mayorkas said in the news release, "and to further build public trust and confidence in the thousands of dedicated and professional law enforcement officers at DHS.”
The DHS' plan features a phased implementation of BWCs while working with Congress to secure the necessary funding to equip agents nationwide with the technology. Within 180 days, DHS agencies and offices will draft and issue, or revise, their own individual BWC policies that either meet or exceed the requirements established by the DHS-wide policy, according to the release.
The policy is the result of two years of tests, pilot programs and gradual rollouts at component agencies. As part of a phased deployment program that launched in August 2021 at Border Patrol locations along the U.S.'s southwest and northern borders, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has already given 7,000 BWCs to its workforce. Selected Office of Field Operations Special Response Teams will be deployed at a later date, according to the release.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ran a pilot program, beginning with special agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) who are members of the special response teams in Houston and El Paso, Texas; New York City; and Newark, N.J. The agents were followed by officers from Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in Atlanta, Georgia, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Indianapolis, Ind.
The U.S. Secret Service has also released an agency-specific policy, DHS reports.
“Our ability to secure the homeland rests on public trust, which is built through accountability, transparency, and effectiveness in our law enforcement practices,” said Mayorkas. “Today’s policy announcement is designed to advance these essential values."
